Mr. Buffett talks in terms of owning the businesses in which he invests. Sometimes he owns them in part—as shares—and sometimes in their entirety. When the share price of one of his businesses drops, what he knows on a deep emotional level is that he still owns precisely the same amount of that company. As long as the company is sound, the fluctuations in its stock price are fairly inconsequential. They will rise and fall in the short term, but good companies earn real money along the way and in doing so their value rises relentlessly over time.
